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Attraction and oviposition responses of the fungus gnat B radysia impatiens to microbes and microbe‐inoculated seedlings in laboratory bioassays
Author(s) -
Braun S.E.,
Sanderson J.P.,
Daughtrey M.L.,
Wraight S.P.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.2012.01315.x
Subject(s) - biology , impatiens , botany , fungus , geranium , inoculation , pathogenic fungus , microbiology and biotechnology , horticulture , cultivar
Laboratory tests were conducted to examine preferences of B radysia impatiens J ohannsen ( D iptera: S ciaridae) larvae and adults for various microbes associated with greenhouse crops. Fungus gnat larvae and adults exhibited a preference for cultures of P ythium spp. over the medium used to grow the pathogens. Larvae also exhibited a preference for geranium seedlings infected with pathogenic P ythium spp. [ P . aphanidermatum ( E dson) F itz., P . ultimum T row, and P . irregulare B uis. ( O omycota: P eronosporales)] over non‐inoculated plants. Adult fungus gnats exhibited a strong ovipositional preference for the aforementioned P ythium spp. as well as a variety of other microorganisms, including the pathogenic fungus T hielaviopsis basicola ( B erk. & B r.) ( A scomycota: M icroascales), the geranium‐infecting bacterium X anthomonas campestris pv. pelargonii ( B rown) D ye ( P roteobacteria: X anthomonadales), the non‐pathogenic species P ythium torulosum C oker & P . P att. and P ythium graminicola S ubramaniam, the pathogen‐suppressive fungus T richoderma harzianum R ifai ( A scomycota: H ypocreales), and the insect pathogenic fungus B eauveria bassiana ( B alsamo) V uillemin ( A scomycota: H ypocreales). Our study is the first to demonstrate that fungus gnats are attracted to and/or stimulated to oviposit by a wide array of living microorganisms both in pure culture and in association with plant seedlings. These findings have important implications with respect to the potential role of fungus gnats in plant pathogen transmission.